title: Hedgehog in the Drosophila testis niche: what does it do there?
abstract: Stem cell niche is a specialized microenvironment crucial to self-renewal. The testis in Drosophila contains two different types of stem cells, the germline stem cells and the somatic cyst stem cells that are sustained by their respective niche signals, thus is a good system for studying the interaction between the stem cells and their hosting niche. The JAK-STAT and BMP pathways are known to play critical roles in the self-renewal of different kinds of stem cells, but the roles of several other pathways have emerged recently in a complex signaling network in the testis niche. Reports of independent observations from three research groups have uncovered an important role of Hedgehog (Hh) in the Drosophila testis niche. In this review, we summarize these recent findings and discuss the interplay between the Hh signaling mechanisms and those of the JAK-STAT and BMP pathways. We also discuss directions for further investigation.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China. zhangzhao@sibcb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China.
authors.forename: Chenyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Cell Biology, Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, 200031, China. yunzhao@sibcb.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000072956:Adult Germline Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004330:Drosophila / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D053612:Janus Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D010053:Ovary / Q000378:metabolism; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction; D055153:Stem Cell Niche; D013737:Testis / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D019485:Bone Morphogenetic Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D053823:Hedgehog Proteins; D050791:STAT Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; C077245:hh protein, Drosophila; D053612:Janus Kinases; C085845:hop protein, Drosophila
keywords: Drosophila; Hedgehog; JAK-STAT; stem cell; testis